"What a coincidence," Liens thought to himself.

Then he put away the surprise on his face, smiled, opened the door, and walked in.

"Hmm?"

The moment the old man sitting behind the desk saw Liens, his eyes immediately narrowed.

"Who are you?"

The Dean asked Liens about his identity with a somewhat serious expression.

"Mr. Dean, I am an Adventurer here to apply for the Swordsmanship Teacher position."

"My name is Heier, please guide me."

Liens replied with a smile.

"An Adventurer, huh?"

"With your strength, isn't it a bit of an overkill to be a Swordsmanship Teacher at my small academy?"

"I can't afford to hire you long-term."

The Dean expressed his doubts slightly, speaking coldly.

"Mr. Dean, you're joking. I'm just here to make a living, not to take on a commission, so I don't need a high fee."

Liens continued.

"Is that so?"

The Dean was noncommittal.

"Then you've passed… Heier, right? You'll officially start teaching tomorrow."

"Now, I'll take you to your dormitory… You probably don't have a place to stay, having just arrived."

The Dean immediately announced Liens's successful interview result, then continued.

After speaking, he stood up and led Liens out of his room.

"Interesting… Is he treating me as someone who came with ulterior motives?"

"It seems the secret hidden by that magic ritual is not small… Should I go explore it again? Maybe I can get some benefits?"

Liens, who was following the Dean to the teachers' dormitory, thought to himself.

To act upon a thought, while not Liens's ninja way, was his modus operandi in the Instance .

So, Liens directly asked the Dean, who was walking ahead:

"What exactly is the magic ritual you've set up in the town for? Can you tell me?"

Before he even finished speaking, Liens had already drawn his sword.

A flash of green light, and the longsword, carrying a sharp Wind Element, slashed towards the old man in front.

"Clang!"

"Crack!"

The shield that suddenly appeared on the Dean's body briefly blocked Liens's slash, but it was pierced almost instantly.

However, that brief moment was enough for the Mage Dean to conjure his magic.

An orange-yellow magic circle appeared, and then, an earth wall suddenly emerged, blocking Liens's slash.

Then, various colored magic circles appeared in mid-air.

Subsequently, Fireballs, Wind Blades, Ice Spikes, Water Arrows, and other spells launched a barrage of attacks at Liens.

Almost simultaneously, a cyan magic circle also appeared on the Dean's body.

He stepped up, moving at a speed completely unbefitting an old man, as if an engine had been installed on him, quickly moving away from his previous position.

Then he flew into the air, looking down at Liens, who had just used a "Wind Wall" to block various offensive spells.

"Tsk!"

Liens looked at the Dean, who was already floating in the air, feeling a bit annoyed.

This old Dean was too cautious, reacting so quickly. It seemed he had been ambushed many times before.

"You're not sent by the Adventurers' Association? Who are you?"

The Dean, suspended in the air, questioned Liens.

"I never said I was a special envoy sent by the Adventurers' Association. I only said I was an Adventurer."

"If you misunderstood, what can I do?"

Liens said indifferently.

"Slick-tongued!"

The Dean said angrily.

"You should fly higher, but this is indoors, so you can't fly too high."

Before his words finished, Liens had already appeared before the Dean floating in the air, and a lightning-fast thrust was already aimed at his chest.

"Indoors" here referred to the entire large teachers' dormitory building.

Except for a few teachers who had their own houses outside, almost all other teachers lived here.

The Dean's room was also part of it.

He had just been about to lead Liens to a currently vacant room.

And since it was indoors, the height of the ceiling was naturally limited.

The Dean had only flown to a height of 3 or 4 meters…

This height was easily reachable for Liens with a slight jump.

Facing Liens's attack, the Dean's expression turned serious, a magic circle appeared, and a semi-transparent shield, with a very complex elemental structure in Liens's eyes, blocked the thrust attack.

But the impact force carried by the thrust still pushed the Dean into the ceiling.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Almost identical sounds rang out.

But one was the sound of the Dean hitting the ceiling, and the other was the sound of Liens landing.

Although Liens could also temporarily levitate himself through Wind Element, this feeling of not having his feet on the ground prevented him from exerting force and moving well. My Virtual Library Empire (*) appreciates your readership at the source.

So, unless necessary, he would not leave himself in the air to be a target for others.

"Boom!"

Another huge sound came from the ceiling.

Along with this sound, a large amount of tiles and wood fell down, and then, the sunlight from outside shone into the room through the dust.

The entire teachers' dormitory had only one floor, and the previous commotion was the Dean breaking through the roof with magic and flying out.

"Escaped? Or doesn't he want to fight here?"

Liens looked at the hole in the ceiling and the Dean's flying figure, then looked at the others who had come to check the situation because of the noise, and said softly.

"Forget it, no need to think. Just catch up."

After speaking, Liens directly jumped towards the direction of the hole in the roof…

Then, in mid-air, he stepped on twisted air to gain leverage, completing a double jump, and directly ascended to the 5 or 6-meter high roof.

And Liens's almost physics-defying action directly caused a series of exclamations from the surrounding teachers.

"Wow! What kind of monster is that, able to perform a double jump in mid-air?"

"And what happened just now? Why is there such a big hole in the roof?"

"This hole is so big, the roof won't collapse, will it?"

One of the brown-haired, seemingly thirty-something male teachers exclaimed repeatedly.

After reaching the roof, Liens saw the Dean, who was floating even higher in the air, waiting for him.

"It seems you don't want to escape, but rather don't want to involve ordinary people… Mr. Dean is really kind-hearted."

"Unfortunately, I don't have such kindness… So, if you don't come down, I'll go down and kill them all."

Liens first praised the Dean with a smile, then instantly changed his expression and threatened him.

Still, the same old saying: if he could avoid aerial combat, he would absolutely avoid it.

Although double jumps, triple jumps, and the like could be used, he had not yet mastered the use of such aerial stairs.

Battles were ever-changing, and his own speed was fast.

So in every battle, he was often in a state of high-speed movement.

This kind of aerial stair, which could achieve multi-stage jumps, was essentially about increasing the density of the air and hardening it, thereby allowing it to serve as a stepping stone for leverage.

But the condensation of each aerial stair required time, and he could not complete it instantaneously.

The reasons for this situation, besides not being proficient enough…

There was also the reason that there wasn't enough Wind Element in his body, and the external Wind Element he could influence was limited.

Elements needed to be accumulated slowly, and he couldn't solve this problem in a short time.

"Wantonly killing ordinary people, aren't you afraid of being wanted by the Four Great Powers?"

"Moreover, there shouldn't be much hatred between us, so why go to such an extent?"

Upon hearing this, the Dean's face darkened, and he said to Liens in a deep voice.

"As long as you tell me the secret of the magic ritual, I'll leave here immediately and definitely won't appear before you again."

Liens solemnly promised the Dean.

Liens made such promises casually, not caring whether the Dean believed him or not.

Of course, he would also keep them, but promises in the Instance usually only took effect within the Instance .

"Uh…"

The Dean was surprised by Liens's serious tone. He felt that Liens seemed like he would really keep his promise.

However, the Dean couldn't possibly tell Liens the secret of the town's magic ritual just because of Liens's promise and threat.

"This ritual has been reported to the Four Great Powers, and it involves the interests of all parties. Are you sure you want to get involved?"

The Dean said again in a deep voice.

His words conveyed his threat.

"Ha! What 'all parties' interests? I'm not included in them, so how can it be 'all parties'?"

"So, either you kill me, or you tell me the relevant secret."

"Also, no need to wait… Since that 'Life' Priestess hasn't appeared yet."

"It means she doesn't want to participate in the conflict between you and me."

"It also indicates one thing: the role you play in this town's magic ritual doesn't seem as important as I imagined."

Liens replied.

"No, no, Mr. Dean is still very important."

"After all, the maintenance of the ritual requires someone who understands magic and related fields well."

A gentle voice appeared on the rooftop, and Nimophila's figure also appeared in their eyes.

"It's like this again… Why can't I detect her approach? Is this also an ability brought by divinity?"

Liens stared seriously at the beautiful figure not far away.

"This young Knight, such a direct gaze."

"Although I know I'm beautiful and have a good figure, looking at me like that makes me shy."

Nimophila felt Liens's gaze and said with a faint smile.

Although she spoke of shyness, Nimophila showed no sign of blushing, and the smile on her face remained unchanged.

She even puffed out her chest, showing off her proud assets.

"Are you going to interfere in my fight with him?"

"Never mind, asking anyone is the same… So, beautiful Priestess of the Life Truth Society."

"Can you tell me what this magic ritual covering the entire Hughes Town is?"

"What exactly is its purpose, and why is it worth the attention of the Four Great Powers?"

"Priestess, can you give me an answer?"

Liens asked Nimophila seriously.

"Hmph hmph!"

Nimophila just chuckled lightly, not responding.

"Is that so, is this your answer to me… It seems this battle is unavoidable."

The fighting spirit in Liens's eyes grew even more intense…